{"id":1509,"date":"2024-06-26T17:49:42","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T17:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecentrepoint.ca\/staging\/?p=1509"},"modified":"2026-06-24T00:47:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:47:04","slug":"purpose-congruence-what-is-it-and-why-should-you-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecentrepoint.ca\/staging\/purpose-congruence-what-is-it-and-why-should-you-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Purpose Congruence: What Is It, And Why Should You Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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“Purpose Congruence should permeate your whole organization and become a core part of how you hire and build teams. Getting this right is like found money.”<\/h3>

\u2014Jon Duschinsky<\/h6>

Key Insight<\/strong>: Purpose Congruence is a new term that refers to the alignment of each individual team member\u2019s Purpose with that of the organization.<\/h4>

Food for Thought:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>

State of Purpose Governance in Canada<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

Purpose Congruence: What Is It And Why Should You Care?<\/strong><\/h5>

Purpose Congruence is the alignment of individual and organizational Purpose.<\/p>

It is the term that has emerged in the last few months to describe the state where the purpose of someone working for an organization intersects with the purpose of that organization.<\/p>

The reason that matters is that if you come to work feeling like you\u2019re not just contributing to something that is important to your bosses but is also important to you \u2014 on an emotional and spiritual level \u2014 then you\u2019re more likely to bring your A-game, be more creative, innovative, passionate and stay with the organization for longer.<\/p>

And all of that translates into productivity, performance and impact for the employer.<\/p>

Sounds pretty simple.<\/p>

But it\u2019s not.<\/p>

Lots of organizations have invested in articulating what they stand for. It\u2019s fairly well understood across boardrooms in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations that if you clearly articulate what you stand for and take action to generate the change you want to see in the world, then you will attract more customers, donors, supporters and fans.<\/p>

But in my experience, the same level of understanding does not exist around the importance of giving each person in the organization the chance to articulate what they\u00a0<\/em>stand for – and crucially, then helping them figure out how that intersects with the organization\u2019s purpose.<\/p>

I know, a lot of this can sound rather conceptual. Here\u2019s a true story to illustrate it.<\/p>

Sophie works in marketing and sales at a travel company whose purpose is to bring fun and adventure into people\u2019s lives. She\u2019s in her mid-20s and enjoys the job. The people she works with are generally fun and she gets to take at least one big trip every year.<\/p>

Sophie likes her work, she\u2019s generally happy, but she isn\u2019t overly passionate about what she does. It\u2019s a good job, it\u2019s fun but if she got a better offer to work at a competitor she\u2019d not feel too compelled to stay.<\/p>

The company then invests in giving Sophie a chance to reveal her own personal purpose.<\/p>

They do this through a coaching and transformation program, perhaps like our own Purpose-Driven Leadership Journey. As Sophie goes through this process she understands that what truly lights her up is teaching and inspiring kids, helping them build self-belief.<\/p>

Sophie\u2019s boss invites her to spend some time with the teams that develop new tours in Asia, and suggest that together, they might explore how to align her purpose with the purpose of the company \u2014 to create fun and adventure.<\/p>

Sophie is given a few hours each week to explore and pursue this and within a few months, the team have developed a series of tours that engage with local educational NGOs and support projects working with kids.<\/p>

When these tours are launched, they turn out to be some of the best selling products the company has ever run.<\/p>

When the CEO looks at the numbers he finds that Sophie and the small group of the sales team that work with her are responsible for almost all those sales.<\/p>

He pops by her desk to find out more and learns that her passion for these projects and for the impact they are creating has inspired others around her. The way Sophie and her friends at work talk about these projects to future clients on the phone is so compelling and authentic that they are selling them like hot cakes.<\/p>

Fast forward to today, Sophie leads a team that creates social impact travel programs at this company. She has no intention of ever finding another job – at least not any time soon. And the programs that her team creates remain among the highest performing of the company.<\/p>

What this story illustrates is the power of aligning an organization\u2019s purpose and an employee\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Find your centre.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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If leadership feels heavier than it should, there is usually something underneath it.<\/h4>

Let’s uncover what is getting in the way and create conditions where people can move with more clarity, trust, and ownership.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Start a Conversation<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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